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Exams are important. But not as important as you might think. Now, I am in favour of exams in lots of circumstances and I believe they help us to learn much more than the knowledge they test. See my blog post on the real purpose of exams.
Exams are not the be all and end all however (did you know that ‘the be all and end all’ is a phrase coined in Shakespeare’s Macbeth?). Let me tell you a couple of personal stories to evidence this.
My story
I was at secondary school in Kuala Lumpur in the 1970s. For a number of reasons, I ended up taking only six O levels. In those days, most students, I think, took about eight to ten. The ones I missed out were History, Chemistry, Physics and Further Maths. Instead I studied Latin and German outside school but didn’t progress far enough to take exams in those subjects. Still, I managed to get into an independent boarding school in England to do my A levels.
I was terribly unhappy there. I suffered from a massive culture shock and I’d wanted to study English, French and Politics but the timetable wouldn’t allow that so I had to take English, French and History. After one year I couldn’t stand it any more and returned home to KL to finish my A levels studying at home. Home education! In those days the only way to send written work to and from the UK was via the post. I sent my essays to tutors in the UK by air mail and they sent them back to me, weeks later, with corrections and comments. I sat two A levels in English and French all by myself at the British Council. Everyone was surprised when my grades turned out to be two As. I think I was the most surprised of all!
I hadn’t thought much about what I might do but with those grades I decided I might try to get into a really good university. I studied at a ‘crammer’ in Cambridge, living in a bedsit on the fifth floor, and took the Cambridge entrance exams. I got a place at my first choice, Newnham College.
Of course, most Oxbridge undergraduates had more than six O levels and more than two A levels. But universities are looking for more than exam results. They want interesting. interested people with a hunger for learning and a desire to grow into remarkable adults who can contribute to society.
Since then I have taken many more exams. Finals at Cambridge, my driving test (the worst of the lot!), various IT exams, the huge number of exams required to qualify as a solicitor, meditation coaching exams and others that I can’t remember. Those pieces of paper are nice to have but they are not everything. Neither is timing. I started to study law just before my 40th birthday. There is no ‘right time’ for exams, just the ‘usual time.’
Sometimes we don’t need exams at all, despite what we might be told. And if we really do need them we can take them at a different time.
You might say that things are different now. Not so very different. Keep reading.
My son’s story
I took my son out of school when he was 13. Here’s a little about our story, written eight years ago. He didn’t take any GCSEs. The only exams he took were music grades, passing them all easily, gaining distinctions in nearly all of them. Then, at 19, he decided he’d like to go to college. He auditioned his way into Colchester Institute with no GCSEs. At the end of two years he left with a distinction in his music diploma. He applied to several universities and music colleges and had offers from all but one. But he decided to try to get into a specialist conservatoire and was offered places by all four he applied to. All of these institutions stipulate GCSEs as entrance criteria.
So the message is still the same:
Sometimes we don’t need exams at all, despite what we might be told. And if we really do need them we can take them at a different time.
There is rather a lot to think about at the moment. Don’t let exams be part of it. Exams can take a back seat, but education will continue. Look out for further blog posts on how you can support your children’s education while they’re not in school. And if you have questions, get in touch or comment below.
